IN a keenly contested final it was Stranraer Reserves who claimed the prestigious Tweedie Cup Trophy after claiming a narrow 3-2 victory over Lochar Thistle last Friday night at Blairmount Park.
Lochar went into the game as the current holders, and they knew they would have to be at their best to hold onto their trophy against the current South table toppers.
Thistle welcomed back Robbie Hogg into the starting 11, with both sides fielding strong line ups.
The game started off at a frantic pace that the big crowd expected, although Lochar seemed to settle the better of the two sides.
Thistle had early chances as Finlay Kennedy fired over and Marcus Zygadlo got into a forward position before being crowded out.
But it was Stranraer who took the lead on 20 minutes in bizarre fashion when a helpless ball from midfield was hooked beyond the Lochar defence.
Craig McKeand’s attempted header back to goalie Konar Pietsch sailed past the ‘keeper, who had come off his line, and into the net. This spurted a bit of life and belief into the young Stranraer side and for the final 25 minutes of the half Lochar certainly knew they were in a game with the Stranraer lads biting into every challenge and disrupting the Lochar rhythm.
With the second half just three minutes old Stranraer doubled their lead when a slack pass in midfield released full back Leon Paton who did well to burst into the box and after a quick one-two the young lad struck an effort beyond Pietsch.
As much as Lochar put a bit of pressure on the Stranraer goal, no clear cut chances really came their way, although Kennedy did have an effort chalked off for offside.
Lochar’s efforts were rewarded on 75 minutes when U20’s player Luis Dalziel reacted quickest after a McKeand header came back off the bar.
However, this was short lived as Stranraer scored 20 seconds after the restart after confusion in the Lochar backline saw striker Harry Mitchell nip in between Hugh Cameron and Pietsch.
Lochar had it all to do to try and keep their hands on the trophy but the stubbornness of the team in blue made it difficult.
The final action of the game came two minutes into stoppage time when McKeand bulleted home a volley to make it a nervy final four minutes for Stranraer.
On Saturday Abbey Vale exited the Cree Lodge Cup at the first hurdle after losing 3-1 to Newton Stewart at Maryfield Park.
Vale took the lead in the first half through Josh Mcvinnie, but the Creesiders scored two to go in ahead at the break. And Newton managed to add a third in the second period.
